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Perhaps the OP just hasn't seen very much anime? Yes, *trends* have changed... but somehow I fail to see how the "X-generation" has been "cut out" since many of them have expanded their tastes to include more than one narrow slice of the universe of anime. The type of shounen anime he appears to be referencing is designed for a young (pre-teen) male audience.

Of course, out of those we'd have to ignore the four most popular anime series in the world which apparently never end.

I feel like from 1990 to 1999 it was all about mechanical robots.
Because now that I think about it, my mom would always bring back robots from Korea.
Robots that transform into trains.
Robots that transform into tigers
Robots that transform into a dragon.

For me I would like to say original work is getting less and less. Most of the anime now are adaptation from another media. If we look at the situation for the past five years, everything come from manga, light novel and game. It seems like the creativity of the animation studio lost for many years already.

Many Superrobot animes were toy merchandise vehicles.
As such, you could count the Beyblade/YuGiOh stuff of today as their successors. Looking at the current schedule, a lot of those shows are running. They just get ignored by us. I personally think they are aweful, but children might disagree and so would 'me' of a distant past (perhaps ).

Stardriver? Super Robot Wars? Just to name some recent mecha anime off the top of my head. Though I can't think of one airing this season. Also there are plenty of action anime. I'm not sure what people are going on about.

Sure there's the occasional superpower anime being released, but the majority of it seems to be directed towards the Y-generation and the millennia generation.

Too bad the X-generation gets cut out

I don't think it has anything to do with cutting out "Generation X" exactly, but there's a limit to how many shows they can make that rely entirely on nostalgia to sell. As people have grown older, their tastes have largely changed, and when they do make new shows that try to follow the old formulas, they don't always hold up as well as the "classics". (This is in part because of the rose-coloured glasses effect; the shows people get nostalgic about may not actually be that amazing, but they're remembered fondly because of their influence on the person at the time.) There are certainly shows and OVAs that come out every year that are attempting to capitalize on this sort of nostalgia, but the majority of today's shows will be tuned to the interest's of today's audience, not that of 20-30 years ago.

Plus, it's not as if there were dozens and dozens of superpower/mecha anime every year in the past either. It's just that there is a lot more anime being made nowadays than there was before, and the newer business models allow them to exploit smaller niche audiences than would have been justified in the past. The entire "late night anime" market is new (and largely replaced the OVA market where niche works lived in the 90s). If you were to only compare the prime time (family) and Saturday/Sunday morning (kids) anime blocks, I think you'd find the balance of anime content in "mainstream" time slots hasn't shifted as much as you think. Not to mention, unless you lived in Japan, the sorts of shows that were licensed and translated when you were a kid may further bias your perspective on what anime was all about back then.

So all that to say I think the premise of this thread is a bit unreasonable. You've grown over the course of the last 20-30 years, but in a way you're asking why (or at least noticing that) the anime industry hasn't stayed the way it was when you were a kid. The anime industry has grown up too, and has expanded to include a whole lot of other genres and styles that were underrepresented/nonexistent in the past. But even still, there are shows being made today that appeal to your specific interests as well; they're just part of a much wider and more diverse ecosphere of shows, so you have to dig a bit deeper.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dhomochevsky

Many Superrobot animes were toy merchandise vehicles.
As such, you could count the Beyblade/YuGiOh stuff of today as their successors. Looking at the current schedule, a lot of those shows are running. They just get ignored by us. I personally think they are aweful, but children might disagree and so would 'me' of a distant past (perhaps ).

I think this is true as well. The sort of "toy anime" they make changes along with the types of toys kids want. In the past kids might have wanted to buy giant robot toys, but now these sorts of "collect/battle" games are much more popular. So yes, you probably could consider these the "spiritual successor" to the superpower/mecha genres that were popular in the past... even though most of today's "anime fans" ignore them. (They're still often licensed and translated, though, but they are marketed as Kids cartoons, so a lot of people don't think of them as "anime".) I have to wonder if, thirty years from now, we'll have people asking why they don't make more anime like they did when they were a kid, referring to shows like these.

It seems the time of superpower anime, with fighting is kind of over.
Also robot animes are less common these days.

Most anime today is more about talking instead of action.

It seems to me, most anime is about regular life, nothing spectacular, and preferably happy episodes.

That's in shark contrast with how I grew up.

Sure there's the occasional superpower anime being released, but the majority of it seems to be directed towards the Y-generation and the millennia generation.

Too bad the X-generation gets cut out

I don't see it conflict in taste between generations. In the competition for genres like action/adventure and sci-fi, anime has lost ground to live action and games. It's not like interest in these genres has declined, its just that anime has become less interesting as a method of delivery. For example in superhero content, the tokusatsu, with lower production costs then anime, are dominating the pre-teen market.

The bulk of anime these days is late night anime which is mostly character driven and centers around daily (or should I say high school) life (usually with a touch of fantasy or the supernatural), I agree, but that's not that it replaced the other type. It's a fairly new market aimed at a limited audience with it's own tropes and conventions. Therefore I don't think it's fair to blame late night anime for the decline of action, mecha and epic adventure anime. (and way to often the source for irritating "old versus new" and "moe ruined anime" debates.

Also there is also some material each season aimed at the nostalgia market. Most of it are OVAs and easy to miss. Still, that makes it hard to claim that the anime industry has forgotten about long time fans that want more advanced versions of the shows that they grew up with.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vexx

Hmmm, Kurozuka, Gurren Lagann, Katanagatari ....

Perhaps the OP just hasn't seen very much anime? Yes, *trends* have changed... but somehow I fail to see how the "X-generation" has been "cut out" since many of them have expanded their tastes to include more than one narrow slice of the universe of anime. The type of shounen anime he appears to be referencing is designed for a young (pre-teen) male audience.

Of course, out of those we'd have to ignore the four most popular anime series in the world which apparently never end.

Those popular four wouldn't be, Sazae-san, Chibi Maruko-chan, Crayon Shin-chan and Doraemon? Not exactly shonen. But you are right, the shonen big three and a handfull of other titles are the current incarnations of Dragonball, Ranma 1/2, Saint Seiya etc.

Still before the 2000s there was a category of anime, on daytime tv that is, that aimed to please both a young teen and an otaku audience. With the rise of late night anime, those mixed shows have largely disappeared, except maybe Gintama and whatever 2- or 4-cour anime studios like Bones or Sunrise put out. So I can in part relate with the OP having trouble finding anime in the "larger then life" category. There is some, but only a small fraction of total.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dhomochevsky

Many Superrobot animes were toy merchandise vehicles.
As such, you could count the Beyblade/YuGiOh stuff of today as their successors. Looking at the current schedule, a lot of those shows are running. They just get ignored by us. I personally think they are aweful, but children might disagree and so would 'me' of a distant past (perhaps ).

Don't forget, unless anime has artistic/cinnematic ambitions (and sometimes even then) it will try to sell you something. Whether it's toys, DVD's, manga, character goods or games, in the end most anime is a 25 min commercial.

Still before the 2000s there was a category of anime, on daytime tv that is, that aimed to please both a young teen and an otaku audience. With the rise of late night anime, those mixed shows have largely disappeared, except maybe Gintama and whatever 2- or 4-cour anime studios like Bones or Sunrise put out. So I can in part relate with the OP having trouble finding anime in the "larger then life" category. There is some, but only a small fraction of total.

This is what I miss the most about current anime. The market seems to be highly polarized (and getting more so) and split between super-niche late night otaku fare and strictly childrens anime in daytime slots.

Looking back on some of my favorite old shows, I really would like to know more about how TV series were funded before late night anime. Shows backed by toys obviously relied on their toy sponsors, but I assume the rest had to actually survive on ratings? I can't imagine they relied on video sales, since back then it seemed that video releases were well after the end of the show (and often in super-expensive low print run LD boxes). Many shows based on manga didn't air until the manga was finished (or close to it) so it's not like the publishers were brokering the anime to increase manga sales.

For me I would like to say original work is getting less and less. Most of the anime now are adaptation from another media. If we look at the situation for the past five years, everything come from manga, light novel and game. It seems like the creativity of the animation studio lost for many years already.

Those are all original TV anime that I've seen that have aired within the last five years. This doesn't count OVAs, movies, or anime that I haven't watched yet. Enjoy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

I don't think it has anything to do with cutting out "Generation X" exactly, but there's a limit to how many shows they can make that rely entirely on nostalgia to sell. As people have grown older, their tastes have largely changed, and when they do make new shows that try to follow the old formulas, they don't always hold up as well as the "classics". (This is in part because of the rose-coloured glasses effect; the shows people get nostalgic about may not actually be that amazing, but they're remembered fondly because of their influence on the person at the time.) There are certainly shows and OVAs that come out every year that are attempting to capitalize on this sort of nostalgia, but the majority of today's shows will be tuned to the interest's of today's audience, not that of 20-30 years ago.

Plus, it's not as if there were dozens and dozens of superpower/mecha anime every year in the past either. It's just that there is a lot more anime being made nowadays than there was before, and the newer business models allow them to exploit smaller niche audiences than would have been justified in the past. The entire "late night anime" market is new (and largely replaced the OVA market where niche works lived in the 90s). If you were to only compare the prime time (family) and Saturday/Sunday morning (kids) anime blocks, I think you'd find the balance of anime content in "mainstream" time slots hasn't shifted as much as you think. Not to mention, unless you lived in Japan, the sorts of shows that were licensed and translated when you were a kid may further bias your perspective on what anime was all about back then.

So all that to say I think the premise of this thread is a bit unreasonable. You've grown over the course of the last 20-30 years, but in a way you're asking why (or at least noticing that) the anime industry hasn't stayed the way it was when you were a kid. The anime industry has grown up too, and has expanded to include a whole lot of other genres and styles that were underrepresented/nonexistent in the past. But even still, there are shows being made today that appeal to your specific interests as well; they're just part of a much wider and more diverse ecosphere of shows, so you have to dig a bit deeper.

This. As we age our exposure to anime is affected by changes in how we live. If I didn't come here to Animesuki I would have missed out a lot on currently running niche anime. If I went to Gaia Online instead, all I'd know about would be shounen action series and Kuroshitsuji. (No offense to anyone who likes these types of anime.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by TurkeyPotPie

This is what I miss the most about current anime. The market seems to be highly polarized (and getting more so) and split between super-niche late night otaku fare and strictly childrens anime in daytime slots.

This is a pet peeve for me when it comes to the length of an anime. If your anime airs late at night, most of the time it ends up with ~12 episodes. If your anime airs in the morning, most of the time it ends up with ~50(!) episodes. This is all regardless of the amount of actual plot. So we have late night anime with complex, intricate plots that are truncated to around 12 episodes (Angel Beats, and most currently 「C」), while we have morning children's anime with plots that can be summarized in a 2-hour-long movie stretched out to 49+ episodes.

The difference between a season run showing one a week an done showing 5 days a week. Or intended to be rebroadcast 5 days a week later on.

The other option is knowing you will have a reliable audiance every time the show airs. Children are a much more reliable audiance since they have a generally set schedule with school. Knowing you have an audiance means you can get away with a show that will be on for an entire year (50 out of 52 weeks..those two weeks off are only due to holidays), or that a lot will be home for your programming 5 days a week, thus huge runs of shows.

The late night crowd...while loyal and might have money, is now where as reliable of a demographic as children. There is a lot of risk in those brackets. And a lot of competition.

The difference between a season run showing one a week an done showing 5 days a week. Or intended to be rebroadcast 5 days a week later on.

The other option is knowing you will have a reliable audiance every time the show airs. Children are a much more reliable audiance since they have a generally set schedule with school. Knowing you have an audiance means you can get away with a show that will be on for an entire year (50 out of 52 weeks..those two weeks off are only due to holidays), or that a lot will be home for your programming 5 days a week, thus huge runs of shows.

The late night crowd...while loyal and might have money, is now where as reliable of a demographic as children. There is a lot of risk in those brackets. And a lot of competition.

Thanks a lot for the info!

In my earlier post I failed to mention one anime that was aired in 51-episode seasons: Shugo Chara. This anime was a good example of a show that was basically ruined by its timeslot making it too long. Two seasons of 51 episodes each plus one additional 25-episode season all adapted from a currently running (at the time) monthly manga was simply a spell for disaster. Had the show been planned in 13-episode seasons it may have been able to conclude with a decent story. Of course, such a strategy does not necessarily correlate to success; I'm just venting.

This is what I miss the most about current anime. The market seems to be highly polarized (and getting more so) and split between super-niche late night otaku fare and strictly childrens anime in daytime slots.

Looking back on some of my favorite old shows, I really would like to know more about how TV series were funded before late night anime. Shows backed by toys obviously relied on their toy sponsors, but I assume the rest had to actually survive on ratings? I can't imagine they relied on video sales, since back then it seemed that video releases were well after the end of the show (and often in super-expensive low print run LD boxes). Many shows based on manga didn't air until the manga was finished (or close to it) so it's not like the publishers were brokering the anime to increase manga sales.

As far as I know anime has had to rely on external sponsors from the start. I guess it's not that important to have product placement in the show if the show can be targeted at the sponsors desired demographic . For example Sazae-san, a family show, was sponsored by consumer electronics firms like Toshiba. Also anime for daytime TV is normally pure commision work for the studio, they are not a risk bearing partner, so video sales would be irrelevant.

I guess there were also some other factors. Before the rise of cable TV the audience was far less fragmented so it could have been worthwile to apeal to more the core demographic with a single show. Also the capital/labor cost ratio might still have been in favour of animation at the time.

I had a discussion a week or two ago about American television and how writting was better in the 70s and early 80s than it is now. I pinned this down to there really being only three networks at the time and few of anything else. This meant the pool of writers was concentrated and there wasn't as much competition for content. Today there are hundreds of channels and thus the number of writers is spread out and have to come up this lots and lots of content. Thus the quality of the content goes down.

It wouldn't be a large stretch of the imagination to say that the Japanese would have the same trouble.

I had a discussion a week or two ago about American television and how writting was better in the 70s and early 80s than it is now. I pinned this down to there really being only three networks at the time and few of anything else. This meant the pool of writers was concentrated and there wasn't as much competition for content. Today there are hundreds of channels and thus the number of writers is spread out and have to come up this lots and lots of content. Thus the quality of the content goes down.

It wouldn't be a large stretch of the imagination to say that the Japanese would have the same trouble.

Dai Sato (anime script writer) certainly agrees with your point of view. In his 2005 interview he expressed the opinion that the massive expansion of anime production in the 2000s while the total number of creative people in the industry was actually in decline, had negative effects on writing. http://www.japansociety.org/resource...0interview.pdf

Superpower anime with fighting isn't really over. It's just that the Shounen Big Three (Bleach, Naruto, and One Piece) have gone on for a very long time now, and have come to dominate a huge chunk of the market for such anime shows. There was DBZ before their rise, but DBZ alone likely allowed for more variety and competition within this particular anime genre.

It is a bit unfortunate, yeah.

One thing I lamented a year or two ago is the relative and very recent decline of two cour long action-oriented "super power anime with fighting". Basically, shows like s-Cry-ed, Buso Renkin, Mai HiME, and Fate/Stay Night (granted, this is a VN adaptation, but it functions perfectly for what you are referring to here). You still get some shows like these, of course, but they do seem less frequent now to me than they used to be.

One thing to keep in mind here, though, is that shows like these were always predominantly aimed at people under 20. It's just that you didn't notice this as much when you were younger because you were, at the time, a member of that under 20 demographic.

Finding action-oriented anime shows aimed at people our age has never been easy.

But there is a recommendation I'll make to you here, since I think it's something that would really fit what you're looking for right now.

And that's Tiger and Bunny.

Due to the age of one of the two male leads, and the superhero subject matter, I think this show would really be a good one for you.

Quote:

Also robot animes are less common these days.

After Code Geass and TTGL, it's perhaps only natural for robot animes to be a bit in decline. It's possibly a genre running out of ideas, and will need something new and different to propel it forward.

Perhaps mecha anime needs another NGE, or at least its version of a Madoka Magica.

Quote:

Most anime today is more about talking instead of action.

It seems to me, most anime is about regular life, nothing spectacular, and preferably happy episodes.

That's in shark contrast with how I grew up.

To a certain extent, this is a good thing. Not everybody is interested in action-oriented anime as you and I are. I was a bit unused to dialogue and "regular life" driven anime shows myself a couple years ago, but after delving into many of these shows, I found that there was a lot worth watching there.

While tastes rarely change easily, you might find it worthwhile to try the same.

If so, I can recommend some good "bridge" anime shows for you. Ones with bits of action here and there, but also a fair bit of talking and "regular life" activity (at the foremost of this list would be the 2006 airing of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya).

Long story short, I do see where you're coming from, and empathize with you, but a certain degree of change within an entertainment medium is inevitable.

If you consider mecha anime is declining, then trnasformers is long dead. There had not been any transformer animje since galaxy Force.

Transformers is an odd property. It's a mix of American and Japanese series when it comes to TV. There might not have been an anime for a while, but there has been transformers animated and Transformers Prime in the US, the latter of which is current.